👍Lots of batteries to hold her down I’m sure.With bigger meats, you'll need tractor weights on the front 😂
By "up to date", do you mean "completely replaced with something unrelated to the Beetle", or just "new shocks and bushings", or something in between? I see CV joints (a good start
Sticking with vw parts. Just literally replacing everything. Urethane bushings, big front and rear sway bars etc. also added front and rear truss bars. the McPherson strut set up seems to work really well on these.That's a lot of rubber, and it looks like a solid car to work with.
By "up to date", do you mean "completely replaced with something unrelated to the Beetle", or just "new shocks and bushings", or something in between? I see CV joints (a good start), but while detail is hard to see what is there looks like original Super Beetle semi-trailing arms (and struts in the front).
The classic Tesla Model S/X drive units are logical for conversion of original rear-engined vehicles, simply because they place the motor behind the axle line. It's still not a trivial fit.Don't understand how (or why) the Tesla LDU will play nicely here.
Ah, that's the concern. People having been engine-swapping Beetles and multiplying their power for decades, so while this is a legitimate concern it's not specific to EV conversion or the Tesla components. I knew a guy in high school who built a Beetle that would (briefly) lift the front tires off the line on a drag strip. Still, a Tesla SDU would be a more rational match. If the Chevrolet Bolt drive unit isn't too wide, it would be even better (for packaging and mass distribution).So, I was curious to see what's needed, beyond rear lawn mower engine logically replaced with Tesla LDU, and confirmed my suspicions on what's needed to keep from shredding the sheet metal with the power levels:
Absolutely... although this thing won't lift the front tires (and the high school Beetle had a 2.0L VW 4-cylinder boxer). The point is just that a non-rusty Beetle won't fold up just because you put in a lot of power and sticky rear tires. Be careful about structure, yes, but this isn't new territory or unworkable.Lifting the front wheels off on a stock bug (especially with the cantilever a small block Chevy creates, for instance) is very different than lifting all that front battery off with instantaneous full torque from a DU that I'm guessing weighs about the same as the original engine/transaxle. It's like hitting the chassis with a huge sledgehammer.
What are your thoughts on a Tesla type pack in the floor? The seats are up on 4” pedestals as it is. Cut out the tunnel and box everything in.Absolutely... although this thing won't lift the front tires (and the high school Beetle had a 2.0L VW 4-cylinder boxer). The point is just that a non-rusty Beetle won't fold up just because you put in a lot of power and sticky rear tires. Be careful about structure, yes, but this isn't new territory or unworkable.
The handling of the resulting vehicle is going to be questionable, if only because the major masses (motor and battery) are beyond the axles. It's essentially the opposite of the optimal vehicle configuration, which is mid-engined.
The tunnel is the structure of a Beetle floor, acting as a backbone frame. Since a Beetle body shell is separately constructed from the backbone and floor, and can be separated from the floor, you could build an entirely different frame and floor, complete with suitable points to mount front and rear suspension, and put the Beetle body on that. The new frame could be designed to accommodate a battery under the floor, but then you have two choices:What are your thoughts on a Tesla type pack in the floor? The seats are up on 4” pedestals as it is. Cut out the tunnel and box everything in.
It would take a lot of shoebox modules; using 3P4S 2.5 kWh modules a 108S pack would be 36 modules and about 90 kWh (nominal), which is what a Jaguar I-Pace carries and could be pushed hard enough to burst at 600 hp (the I-Pace is rated at 400 hp).Shoebox modules just tossed his 600HP out the window.